Tritonia nilsodhneri from Turkey

October 3, 2001
From: Baki Yokes

Dear Bill,
I have some photos of Tritonia nilsodhneri taken in Saros Bay, Turkey. Although there are many species of corals, such as Eunicella cavolini, Eunicella singularis and also some Alcyonium species, these animals are always found on E. singularis, the White Gorgonian. Their body colour and shape exactly imitate the gorgonian, which makes them hard to be recognized if they are not looked for. They also leave their eggs on the coenonchyme of the colonies. They always wrap themselves around the branches and become indistinguishable from the colony. What I have observed so far is that, the other gorgonian species were always inhabited by some prosobranchs such as the members of Ovulidae, but the Turkish Tritonia nilsodhneri individuals mostly (if not only) prefer E. singularis, and if I'm not wrong, the photo posted by Erwin is also a E. singularis colony. On the other hand, there are large populations of Eunicella verrucosa in the Sea of Marmara, but I never encountered a T. nilsodhneri on any of those colonies yet.

All photos were taken by me at Canakkale, Turkey. Divesite: Saros Bay. Depth: 20m, June 1998.
Size: Animals - 25mm long; egg ribbon - 5mm diameter

Best wishes
Baki

bakiyokes@turk.net

Yokes, B., 2001 (Oct 3) Tritonia nilsodhneri from Turkey. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5360

Dear Baki,
Thanks for this interesting information. These cryptic animals are quite fascinating. As you are probably quite aware, it is often the egg masses which alert us to the fact that cryptic nudibranchs are hiding nearby. Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Oct 3). Comment on Tritonia nilsodhneri from Turkey by Baki Yokes. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5360

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